Creatures
Yesterday, Elaine and I went to a presentation by the Baltimore Zoo's "Zoomobile." The presenters arrived in a bright-yellow van, covered with pictures of wild animals. They introduced us to a number of "cute" animals.
Panamanian Brightly-Colored Frog
This little guy is normally poisonous in the wilds of Panama. Not so at the Baltimore Zoo. This is because of what they eat. In Panama, they consume poisonous ants and the toxin is exuded from the frogs' skins. In Baltimore, they consume non-poisonous ants, and so, they are no longer poisonous.
These tiny frogs are very rare these days in their native country... in fact, they may be extinct there. The Baltimore Zoo apparently has a vital colony... at least that is what I thought I heard from the presenter.
Gray Parrot
This pretty bird is all gray except for its tail feathers that appear to be an orangey red. The bird, like all parrots, had something to say in order to get a treat.
Later, I watched an old episode of Frazier in which Niles buys a parrot, which talks a lot and gets the Crane Brothers in trouble. The parrot also gets a "death grip" on Niles' scalp. After a vet finally gets it loose...it performs the same trick on Frazier. Very funny episode.
I believe that my daughter, Elizabeth was once given a parrot by her ex-husband, but had to give it away because it talked all the time.
Chinchilla
Yum Yum is a 14 year old chinchilla who lives at the zoo. I can see why ladies like chinchilla coats... the fur is very soft. It bothered me to learn that one must "skin" 100 of these beautiful creatures just to make one fur coat. These guys live high up in mountains; therefore, they need their fine coats to keep warm.
Turtle
A palm-sized turtle with great sand-like camouflage. These guys are found in desert areas, but are hard to find because they blend in so easily.
(By the way, The Week magazine says that a "horny" turtle named Bert has now developed arthritis in his back legs and has been fitted with shell wheels that will take weight off of his legs and make his life less painful.)
The presenters showed a friendly 16-year old lady penguin, who actually flirts with humans, just like a 16-year old human girl. I learned that the Baltimore Zoo has the largest colony of these "warm weather" penguins in the world. They are native to Africa and not the South Pole.
The presenters are regularly presented with Government confiscated elephant tusks, so that they can be used for educational purposes. They showed a small tusk that had an African head carved into it. It is a beautiful piece, but illegal to possess. Poachers would have killed an adult elephant to get a pair of ivory tusks similar to the one presented. Elephants are being killed off because of this greedy desire to own carved ivory. In fact, the presenters said that on average, one elephant is killed every 20 seconds by poachers!
National Geographic devoted most of one of their issues to the problem. They claim that poachers are being hunted and arrested in most of Africa, and the elephant population in a couple of countries has remained steady. Check out the article, it is very interesting, hopeful and depressing at the same time.
Leopards
The presenters showed a Government confiscated leopard skin, sewn in preparation to becoming a rung. Like ivory, such skins are desired and procured by the rich. Even though we are told that leopards are not in danger of extinction, they may become so if this poaching does not stop.
Well... that's a bit of information that Elaine and I learned at the Zoomobile presentation. I may have my facts wrong here and there, but you get the idea. I will try to get these folks to visit one of our AARP Chapter meetings. I'm sure it would be very well received. Meanwhile, visit the Baltimore Zoo.... or the New Bedford, Massachusetts Zoo... or whatever zoo is nearby. The animals will have a great time observing you while you observe them.
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